Beware the quiet ones
by renrenren3
Summary: Kurt likes Blaine. Blaine likes Kurt. AU in which they get together and transfer back to McKinley. Side pairings: St. Berry, Brittana, possibly others.
1. Make a move

**Author's note:** I started writing this fic during the winter hiatus, so there are no spoilers at all for the new episodes. Some details might also be different because this is my AU about how Kurt and Blaine's storyline might have evolved.

I already have a couple of chapters finished, but I'm a slow writer and I'm also busy with real life so it might take me a while to update. Sorry about that. I hope you like what I've written so far.**  
**

-x-

Whenever Kurt thought about it, the first hints that something was wrong had been on a Thursday afternoon. Right after Warblers practice, Blaine had stopped Kurt as he was about to leave and asked him if he had a minute.

"Sure," Kurt replied immediately, setting down his bag. "What is it?"

Blaine just smirked. "Wait until the others have left," he said.

At that, Kurt's imagination went into overdrive. He told himself that it was better not to expect too much, that there were many legitimate and innocent reasons why Blaine would want to get him alone, but the thing was that Blaine _was_ trying to get him alone.

Kurt had given a lot of thought in the past few months to what could happen when him and Blaine were together somewhere private. It was true that they spent a lot of time together, practicing or studying or just hanging out, and so far nothing had happened. But it didn't mean it couldn't happen. Kurt couldn't help hoping that maybe this time was the right time.

Blaine grinned as the door closed behind the last two Warblers and Kurt felt his heart catch in his throat as his not-so-secret crush walked closer and closer and...

Handed him a sheet of paper.

"Huh?" Kurt said. His first reaction would have been to ask if it was a love letter, but as he took the sheet and quickly scanned it he was glad he hadn't gone with that. It wasn't a love letter but it was the next best thing. A music sheet.

"Oh my!" Kurt exclaimed. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Congratulations," Blaine grinned. "You just got your first solo with the Warblers."

At that, Kurt gave an undignified squeal and hugged Blaine. In hindsight, that might have been a poor move. Blaine was always very touchy-feely, leaning into Kurt's personal space all the time, linking his fingers with Kurt's, slinging an arm around his shoulders and so on, but maybe a hug was too much. Especially since it wasn't a quick hug either.

"Thank you," Kurt said, not quite willing to break apart just yet.

"Er, you're welcome," Blaine replied somewhat stiffly, his voice muffled by Kurt's shoulder. "You earned it."

Kurt finally had to admit that he'd probably exceeded the appropriate hugging time by several hours and let Blaine go. "It's all thanks to you," he said, finding he couldn't quite stop grinning. "It would have been much more difficult to get used to this without your help," he added, gesturing to the Warblers' practice room.

"I told you that you'd fit in soon enough," Blaine replied.

The taller boy nodded and glanced at the sheet in his hand, now slightly rumpled. "I can't believe it," he repeated. "A solo for Regionals! I never thought I'd get one before my senior year."

He was torn between throwing himself into Blaine's arms again and asking him to play the song on the piano to start practicing.

"Yeah, I'm sorry but I just remembered I have things to do," Blaine said before Kurt could do either. "I'll see you around."

If Blaine walked away way more quickly than usual, Kurt was too distracted by the music sheet to notice.

-x-

The common room on the second floor was technically for anyone who wanted to read or chat or just lounge around, but everyone knew that it had good acoustics and many Warblers used it for impromptu rehearsals. All the boys were very supportive and didn't mind giving Kurt some quiet when he asked. Blaine hadn't lied that first day when he'd said the Warblers were like rock stars.

Kurt half-dreaded and half-wanted kids to stop him in the hallways to ask for his autograph ever since getting the solo. It was a shame that it wasn't a duet because he'd have liked to have an excuse to practice with Blaine.

Still, nothing stopped him from asking for tips and offering advice on the choreography.

They'd pushed all the armchairs to the side of the room and put _Single Ladies_ on loop on the boom box for the past fifteen minutes because it was the fastest way Kurt knew to empty the room.

"I'm not saying the numbers are boring," Kurt said. "The vocals are simply divine and I would marry the arrangements if I could."

Blaine smiled at that, torn between amusement and exasperation at hearing the same argument all over again.

"You know costumes are against the rules," he said. "We've got to wear the uniform for all school activities, Dalton rules."

"I know," Kurt sighed, still mourning the loss of his favorite sweaters. "But we'll be up against New Directions _and_ Vocal Adrenaline, and they don't have any rules against flashy costumes. They thrive on flashiness," he added.

Blaine nodded. "So we'll just have to impress the judges regardless of that."

"My point exactly," Kurt said. He strode over to the boom box and switched from Beyoncé to their first number for Regionals. "I think the choreography could stand some improvements. Twirling around on place isn't nearly enough to impress the judges, not if we do it for all three numbers. Watch and learn."

It was a good thing that Kurt knew how to turn off most his brain when he performed, concentrating only on the music and not on his surroundings. Otherwise he might have been distracted by how closely Blaine was looking at him.

Kurt might have slipped at one point or two, but if Blaine noticed he didn't show it. He clapped enthusiastically at the end.

"I'll admit we might benefit from a better choreography," Blaine conceded. "Last year we only got second place at Regionals and I have a feeling the judges thought our numbers were all too similar. But you know you're our best dancer by far, right? You can't expect us to learn three new routines in a few weeks."

"Don't worry," Kurt replied, still beaming at the praise. "I taught a whole football team how to dance, I think I can handle the Warblers. It's not difficult, you just have to move along to the music. I wouldn't mind giving you private lessons," he added, though he knew Blaine wasn't a half bad dancer himself.

He looked expectantly at Blaine but the other boy just shook his head. "I'll talk about this to the council and I'll let you know tomorrow, okay?" he said. "Thanks for, er, your enthusiasm."

-x-

After two years and several stressful hours in various green rooms, Kurt had stopped feeling nervous right before a performance. Nervousness was for people who hadn't spent the last four weeks polishing their numbers.

"Don't worry," Kurt said, perching on the arm of the sofa where Blaine was sitting. "My solo will be perfect. You won't regret giving me this chance."

"Yeah, I know," Blaine replied. "I'm not worried."

Kurt gave him a look. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Lately you seem on edge. We could have practiced some more if you're worried about the dance routines," he added wistfully. It was almost shame that Blaine was so good that he needed to watch Kurt perform a certain move only once or twice before being able to replicate it almost perfectly.

"I'm not worried," Blaine repeated, though he didn't sound very convincing. Especially when he got up soon after saying he needed some air.

Kurt watched him almost run out of the room, then sat down in his place.

"I really don't get why he's so nervous about dancing," he told Wes and David, who were sitting at the other end of the couch.

The other Warblers shared a look and Wes shook his head.

"What?" Kurt asked. "Is there something I should know?"

"It's more like there's something you should have figured out already," David snorted.

"David!" Wes exclaimed, giving his friend an admonishing look, but Kurt urged him to continue.

"No, I want to know," he insisted. "Lately it's like Blaine has been avoiding me, he keeps staring at me during rehearsals but whenever I try to talk to him he runs away."

He pouted. In the past few days the feeling that Blaine might be rejecting him had almost driven him mad. He was grateful for Warblers practice taking up so much of his time, but he had no idea what he'd do after Regionals were over.

Kurt stared at Wes and David expectantly but Wes shook his head again. "You can't say anything," he told David. "Blaine wouldn't want us to."

"Blaine has been making eyes at Kurt for months," David huffed. "_Everyone_ could see that."

"Really?" Kurt couldn't stop himself from saying. "I mean, I knew it!" He grinned. "So why isn't he talking to me?"

Wes and David shared a look. "We can't tell you anything," Wes said.

"Yeah, we've probably said too much already," David added.

Wes glared at him. "Speak for yourself," he muttered. "I wasn't going to say anything."

"What?" Kurt asked. "You're going to leave me hanging? What am I supposed to do?"

"Sorry, man," Wes said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Actually you won't," David said. "Hey," he added after another death glare from Wes, "it's true! You know he'll never make a move."

"What?" Kurt repeated, feeling his voice go higher and higher with each word. "You guys do know I'm sitting here and listening to what you say, right? I think I might be having a heart attack so can you please stick to one version and _tell me if Blaine likes me or not_..."

"Whoa, calm down," David said, as if he hadn't just been toying with Kurt's tender heart. He glanced at Wes, who threw up his hands in mock-surrender.

"He likes you," Wes said. "Everyone knows."

Kurt shook his head, unwilling to believe it. "But then why wouldn't..."

"If we tell you something," David said, "do you promise you won't let Blaine know it comes from us?"

-x-

"There you are," Kurt said, spotting Blaine in a corner of the lounge. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Sorry," Blaine grinned. "I needed some fresh air. Is it our turn on stage already?"

"Yeah, in about ten minutes," Kurt replied. He grinned and took Blaine's hand. "Let's go," he said, ignoring the fits of nervousness.

He led Blaine down the corridor, around a corner and through the closest door.

"Uh, Kurt," Blaine said, looking around and then at their hands linked together. "I thought we were supposed to go on stage?"

"In ten minutes," Kurt said.

A short pause. "This is the men's restroom," Blaine said.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, almost breathlessly. "I know. It was the only place I could think of on such short notice."

He pulled Blaine towards the nearest stall before he could say anything else.

"So," Kurt said. What he wanted to say was: _This is either the best idea I've ever had or the worst idea I've ever had and I'm really, really hoping I'm not screwing up everything._ Or possibly: _If Wes and David lied to me, I swear to whatever deity might be listening that I'm going to kill them in the most painful way I can think of, even if it means getting blood on my clothes._

He couldn't quite put his thoughts into words, not with Blaine right next to him and looking very close to panic. Kurt felt his expression was probably not very different.

Before he could change his mind and run away, Kurt leaned down and kissed Blaine.

His first coherent thought, after several seconds of not being able to think about anything much, was that Blaine's lips didn't taste like dip or burgers at all. He still felt like sending Brittany a note or a small present, as a thank-you for making sure this kiss wasn't more embarrassing as it already was.

Considering that it was taking place in a theater's restroom in Cleveland and that Blaine had been looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights only a few seconds before, Kurt thought this might almost be qualified as a success.

Blaine still had the rabbit-in-headlights look but at least he didn't seem about to run away any longer. "Okay," he said after a few seconds. "That. What was...? I mean..."

Kurt grinned at the thought of Blaine being left almost without words. Maybe he could get Brittany a small teddy bear with a hand-knitted sweater. In pink. She'd like that. As long as Kurt didn't tell her it was a thank-you for her extensive expertise in boykissing.

"I know the, er, atmosphere is a tad lacking," Kurt said gesturing to the four walls of the stall. "But you kept leading me on and you wouldn't make a move and it was driving me completely insane."

Blaine laughed nervously. "I was leading you on? You're the one who keeps looking at me during practice! You know how difficult it is to concentrate when you keep flirting with me?"

"You could have just said something," Kurt said. "You kept brushing me off and I thought you didn't want to..."

"Kiss you?" Blaine finished, ducking his head. "No. I mean, yes! Of course I wanted that. Just, maybe, not in a bathroom?"

Kurt snorted. "How long would it have taken if I'd waited for you?"

"Er," Blaine said. "You know, this is a bad idea. We're due on stage in ten minutes..."

"Seven minutes now," Kurt amended looking at his watch.

"...and now I won't be able to think of anything else but you," Blaine finished.

"Good," Kurt grinned. "That was the idea."


	2. Birth of a song

The truth got out on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

Kurt and Blaine had been curled on the couch in one of the common areas, watching _The Little Mermaid_ for what was probably the tenth time that month. After Sebastian's song Kurt had looked up, seen that the room was empty except from the two of them and taken advantage of it by flinging his arm around Blaine's shoulders. Blaine had grinned and kissed him, and things had progressed from there.

They were abruptly brought back to reality by an awkward cough. Kurt had a brief moment in which he marveled that people would actually cough to attract someone's attention, then he realized he was almost sprawled over Blaine and hastily drew back.

Wes was looking at them reproachfully from the door, and the corridor behind him seemed to have been filled with all of the Warblers. Kurt wondered what they were doing there and how they could have all appeared so suddenly, then glanced at the tv screen and noticed that the movie was almost over.

"Looks like we lost track of time," Blaine said with a small apologetic smile.

Kurt tried to look apologetic as well for being caught making out on the couch with his boyfriend, but he was still too giddy about actually having a boyfriend to make out with to care.

He straightened his tie and jacket though, since giddiness was no excuse to go around with rumpled clothes.

"Look, I'm happy for you two, I really am," Wes began.

"I should have known that something had happened when Blaine stopped showing up on my door in the middle of the night to _pine_," David put in.

Kurt smirked. "Did you really do that?" he asked Blaine, and he saw the tip of his ears go red.

"Once," Blaine admitted reluctantly. "Or twice."

"Try _all the time for the past three months_," David snorted

Kurt laughed, safe in the knowledge that his own bouts of pining had been restricted to Mercedes and, in a couple of very dark moments, Rachel. Neither of whom were around to tell the other Warblers about that unfortunate weekend in which he'd eaten a whole tub of ice cream and then tried to write Blaine a sonnet.

"Blaine," Wes sighed. "I expected better from you. You know that dating another student is against school rules."

David's face fell at those words. "Yeah," he said. "We could pretend we didn't know what was going on as long as it was just hand-holding and getting into each other's personal space all the time, but you know the faculty will find out about _this_."

He made a gesture that encompassed the room whole room. Kurt took it to mean 'public displays of affection in front of twenty people'.

"Why are you all here anyway?" Blaine asked.

"We wanted to let you know that there was a voting," David said. "And we unanimously decided to veto any Disney song from our set list for the next competition."

Kurt and Blaine shared a look. Blaine nodded and they both got up from the couch.

"I suppose now we'll have to wait and hope that two of our best singers don't get suspended first," Wes was saying.

"Actually I have an announcement to make to that regard," Kurt said. He clasped his hands in his lap and gave Blaine a quick glance before starting with the little speech he'd prepared. "Fellow Warblers, it's been a privilege to be able to join your ranks. Alas, all good things must come to an end."

He regarded everyone's puzzled faces and concluded, "I'm going to transfer back to McKinley."

"What?" David exclaimed. Many other Warblers echoed the question, asking why and what had happened. He felt guilty about leaving them so suddenly but he'd made up his mind already.

"If this is about your solo," Wes began.

Kurt interrupted him. "Please, I don't want you to think I'm going back for such a petty reason. I'll be facing though competition for solos in New Directions too." The corners of his mouth twitched upwards at the thought of how one Rachel Berry would welcome him back.

"Then why are you going back?" David asked. "That bully who used to torment you will still be there, won't he?"

"Yes," Kurt replied. He clenched his hands a little tighter, nails digging in the palm of his hands, but apart from that he was perfectly calm. "Someone once told me they regretted running away instead of standing up to their bully." He hesitated and gave Blaine a look. He was unsure of how much the other Warblers knew about his own misadventures and how much he could share but he was relieved to find his boyfriend smiling at him. "I can't allow people like Karofsky to take over my life," Kurt said.

"Kurt, have you thought this through?" Wes asked.

David nodded vehemently. "Yes, we're not talking about the Warblers," he said. "Are you going to be all right?"

Kurt had thought about it a lot. He'd already talked to his parents and the principals at both Dalton Academy and McKinley High and he was only waiting for the paperwork to be processed before moving back.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything dramatic like challenging this brute to a single duel," he said. Though he'd given it some thought: it would be the perfect excuse to wear a cape to school.

David and most of the Warblers didn't seem much reassured by Kurt's words. "Blaine, I can't believe you haven't said anything yet," David put in. "Tell Kurt that he's out of his mind."

"About that," Kurt said, exchanging a look with Blaine.

"Kurt and me already talked about it," Blaine said. "I decided to transfer to McKinley with him."

This time the room positively exploded with the Warblers' complaints and exclamations of dismal. Kurt tried not to feel disappointed that they were taking the loss Blaine much worse than his. After all Blaine had been the star of the Warblers for the past two years.

Kurt noticed a couple of Warblers staring at him. He wouldn't blame them for thinking it was Kurt's fault that Blaine was leaving. He did feel like this was his fault even though he'd done his best to talk Blaine out of this idea. If Kurt had never come to Dalton, Blaine wouldn't be leaving.

Blaine seemed to be reading Kurt's mind since he found Kurt's hand and squeezed it for reassurance before continuing. "I know it won't be easy and I'll miss you guys," he told the other Warblers. "But this is something I have to do."

David and the others seemed torn between wanting to kill Blaine for deserting to the enemy and wanting to lock him down to stop him from committing what they considered a suicide.

In the end it was Wes who broke the silence first. "As long as you're sure about it," he said. "I don't suppose we can talk you into staying at least until the end of the semester?"

"Sorry," Blaine said with an apologetic smile. "Next week will be our last here. I've got to transfer before my father changes their minds about letting me."

Despite his light tone, Kurt could see the nervousness in his eyes. It hadn't been easy for him to convince his parents that he wanted to transfer out of prestigious academy like Dalton for a no-name high school in Lima.

He'd been worrying about how that announcement would go down, too. None of the boys had said it out loud and they were too polite to, but Kurt was sure that they felt betrayed by their sudden decision.

Wes and the other seniors exchanged some very meaningful looks. "I think it's better if you'd stop coming to practice," Wes said, glancing between Kurt and Blaine. "We need to start working on our set list and if you're going perform against us..."

"No, we understand," Kurt said quickly.

Blaine nodded. "That'd be for the best," he said. "Though I don't know if I'm going to join their glee club on such short notice, I'd have to go through an audition of course."

Kurt tactfully refrained from repeating what he'd told Blaine a hundred of times before: that anyone who had ever auditioned for New Directions had made it in, and anyway Blaine was way better than anyone else in the club apart from Kurt himself and maybe Rachel on her good days.

It was awkward enough to watch the Warblers walk away to practice, glancing back at the two of them as if they weren't entirely sure of what to say. Kurt was sure that the rest of the students would find out about them before dinner.

"Well, that didn't go too badly," Blaine said after the other boys had gone on their way, flopping down on the couch.

Kurt gave him a weak smile and curled up next to him. No point in trying to keep their relationship a secret any more.

"I'm sorry," he said after a while. "I know how much the Warblers meant to you."

Blaine shrugged. "It's okay," he murmured leaning his head against Kurt's shoulder. "I still get to sing with you."

-x-

**Author's note:** Say goodbye to Dalton, from next chapter we'll be back at McKinley. I hope I hadn't misled anyone into thinking this fic was Dalton-centric, I like Wes and David and the others but I want Kurt to be back with ND. I might write some other chapter with the Warblers at some point, though.**  
**


	3. Beware the quiet ones

**Author's note:** I'm sorry for the very quick update, I didn't have much time but wanted to get this part out of the way. Plus, I kind of forgot about this fic because I'm hardly getting any comments at all. Anyway. This chapter has a small warning for bullying and homophobic language.

-x-

It wasn't easy, being the new kid. Blaine had a newfound respect for Kurt who had managed to adapt to Dalton so quickly. He'd been at McKinley for over a week now and he still felt as if he'd landed on a completely different planet.

Take the classes themselves, for example. Blaine had chosen the same subjects he studied at Dalton, naively thinking that the only thing that would change would be the teacher and maybe the level of difficulty. After the third Spanish class in a row had been canceled (this time because Mr Schuester was arguing with Santana over the set list for Regionals) he realized that maybe things were more different than he'd imagined.

Without Kurt, he didn't know how he'd have managed. After the first day Kurt had even started to show up at Blaine's in the mornings to lay out his clothes for him. Blaine was in equal parts embarrassed about being seen with his horrible bed hair and grateful about not having to choose what to wear every day. Given the looks he'd got on his first day it was probably for the best.

Kurt even walked him to classes as often as he could, making sure he wouldn't get lost in the hallways and giving him other invaluable pieces of information such as: don't agree with Mr Schue when he wants to do a Journey song, don't let Brittany make out with you for the sake of her perfect record, don't get chicken for lunch on Tuesdays and never look at Coach Sylvester in the eyes, you might be turned into stone. (Blaine wasn't sure about some of these but after his first meeting with Coach Sylvester he decided to follow Kurt's instructions to the letter.)

As much as he wanted to, though, Blaine couldn't spend all of his time glued to Kurt. They didn't have all of their classes together and they were both adamant on the fact that, despite what everyone else might think, they would not turn into one of those sickening couples who went everywhere together.

Something else that Blaine didn't want to admit to anyone was that he didn't want Kurt to walk him around like a bodyguard. He hadn't had any close encounters with the school's resident bullies so far but he knew it was just a matter of time, and when it happened he wasn't going to be hiding behind his boyfriend. He was done with running.

He still couldn't stop his heart from catching in his throat the first time Karofsky cornered him and slammed his fist into his locker by way of a greeting.

"Hello," Blaine said, channeling years of training into making sure his voice didn't break. "Er. Could you move? I'm late for my Physics class."

"Hello, faggot," Karofsky replied. So much for hoping he might have come around. "You know what this is?" he said.

Blaine tried not to grimace as the slushie hit him in the face. Kurt had warned him about the welcome he might get from McKinley's bullies, but actually getting that stuff in his hair felt much more gross than he had imagined.

"Is that all?" he asked, wiping his face with the sleeve of his already-ruined sweater. He liked that sweater.

"All?" Karofsky repeated, lowering his face so that it was level with Blaine's. "That was just a warning. I don't know what you're used to where you come from but don't you try doing anything disgusting in front of me."

"Disgusting?" Blaine repeated. He doubted there could be something more disgusting than a slushie to the face.

"Don't act dumb," Karofsky replied. "If you try to... to hold hands with Hummel or make out with him or act gay..."

Blaine winced as Karofsky shoved him against the lockers. He'd have been offended by those words if he hadn't been terrified of what might come next.

"Well, just don't do that," Karofsky said. "Or I will hurt you. You _and_ Hummel. I already made him run away once, I can do it again. I can do worse."

Blaine pushed him away. He didn't know which one was more surprised by the sudden gesture, Karofsky or him, but he couldn't take it back even if he wanted. And he didn't want to. He could feel his heart beating madly in his chest.

"I don't care about what you do to me," Blaine said. "I don't care if you throw stuff at me and push me around and threaten me." He glared at the taller boy. "But if you as much as touch Kurt, I swear I'm going to make you pay."

He swallowed and braced himself for an upcoming punch, or worse. Instead Karofsky blinked at him, looked at some point over Blaine's shoulder and walked away without saying another word.

Blaine leaned back against the lockers and took a moment to marvel that he was still alive and in one piece.

"Who'd have thought it," said Coach Sylvester who was passing by just then. "As they say: _beware the quiet ones_. Though personally I prefer to say: _beware Sue Sylvester_. Girls' bathroom is down there on the left, Sugarplum."


	4. How do you know he loves you?

**Author's note:** I wrote this part for someone who likes St. Berry, so... haha, I don't even know. I'll get back to McKinley and our regularly scheduled plot with the next chapter.

-x-

Kurt stared at Jesse across the table for a whole minute or so before getting up and dragging Rachel to the restroom.

"Okay," he said with all the calm he could muster, which wasn't much at all considering that Jesse St. James had been sitting at their table and what in the name of Gaga was going on? "Rachel, could you please tell me what _he_ is doing here?"

She crossed her arms over the hideous argyle pattern of her sweater and frowned. "What do you mean, what he is doing here?" she repeated. "This is a double date. He's my date!"

"You're dating Jesse St. James?" Kurt exclaimed. Good thing they were in the ladies' restroom because his voice just went two octaves higher than normal.

"Why not?" Rachel replied defensively. She was doing it again, that thing where she tried to act as if she didn't care much about it, but Kurt knew that Rachel always cared too much about everything. She'd have to become a much better actress if she wanted her Broadway dreams to come true.

Kurt snorted. He could have easily given her a hundred reasons why dating Jesse was a bad idea, starting with _'he's a jerk who used you to get inside information on his competition and then had his friends egg you in the parking lot'_ and ending with... well, that was more or less the only reason, but Kurt thought it was more than enough.

Rachel had other ideas, apparently. "Before you say anything," she said, raising one finger, "he was the one who called me to apologize. He said he was really sorry about everything and wanted to start over."

"I bet he did," Kurt said. "Did he also say that Regionals are coming up in less than a month?"

"You're prejudiced against him," Rachel pouted. "Why don't you give him a second chance?"

"Why are _you_ giving him a second chance?" Kurt replied. "I realize that we often don't see eye to eye, but we both know you could be doing so much better than him." He made a dismissive gesture towards the direction where, several feet and a couple of walls away, Jesse was probably still sitting.

Rachel only sighed in response. He had to hand it to Rachel, she did the theatrical sigh very well. "No, I can't," she said. "I can't! I've tried to patch up things with Finn but he won't even listen to me. I always ruin everything," she added, sniffling.

Kurt grimaced. Rachel might have had the awful habit of saying the wrong thing at the worst possible time but it wouldn't be very nice to tell her while she was about to burst into tears on Kurt's shoulder at any minute. "That's not true," he said. Then, feeling that something was required of him, he patted her shoulder awkwardly. "You're a... great person," he added, hoping that his acting skills were better than hers.

Rachel shook her head and sniffled again. "I really like Jesse," she said. "And I wouldn't go out with him again if I didn't think he's really changed."

Kurt huffed. "Was it his idea to invite me and Blaine along, so he could spy on both competitors for Regionals in one fell swoop?"

"No," Rachel replied. "That was my idea actually." She saw Kurt's perplexed face and hastened to add, "It's okay, he graduated so he's not with Vocal Adrenaline anymore."

"But why did you invite us?" Kurt asked, still perplexed. When Rachel had called him to set this up only the day before he'd assumed she was back with Finn.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Fine, if you really must know," she said, as if in Rachel-land this was perfectly obvious. "I'm sure Jesse is truly sorry about what he did to me last year. To me _and_ the glee club," she added after the tiniest pause. "But, as a safety measure, I thought it would be better to bring someone along to our first date. Just in case Jesse hasn't been completely sincere with his apologies, which I'm sure he was."

Kurt tried not to wince. "Okay," he said. He'd have asked 'why us?' but he thought he knew already. It was probably best not to ask Rachel if the rest of New Directions knew about Jesse's less-than-triumphal return yet.

"We should go back in there," Rachel said. "We can't spend the whole date in the restroom, Jesse and Blaine will be wondering what's going on."

"Yeah," Kurt replied, hit by the sudden realization that they'd been in there for ages. He needed to go and save his boyfriend from the evil clutches of Jesse St. James.

-x-

Blaine and Jesse had become friends.

"There you are," Blaine said as Kurt sat back in front of him. "Jesse was just telling me about their rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody last year at Regionals."

Kurt grinned almost manically. It was just like Blaine to take to Jesse immediately. Blaine could get along with anyone and it was one of the little things that made Kurt so ridiculously in love with him, but maybe this time Kurt would love Blaine better if he had given him a reason to leave and cut short this double date from Hell.

Finding that Blaine and Jesse had been in a screaming match was too much to hope for but an awkward silence would have been good too. Instead, Blaine and Jesse had just become BFFs and Kurt had to shrug and say that he didn't get to watch Vocal Adrenaline perform at Regionals last year.

Of course Blaine knew that New Directions lost to Vocal Adrenaline last year, and of course Vocal Adrenaline beat the Warblers too as they went on to win their fourth national title, and of course Blaine was going to be the perfect gentleman and have a lot of respect for a former rival all the same.

Jesse flashed him a smile that had probably been rehearsed in front of a mirror. "And I've heard all about your acapella renditions of Katy Perry," he said. "I'd like to listen to that, it sounds really interesting."

Kurt eyed him suspiciously, barricading himself behind his hot cocoa. The problem was that he did sound sincere, not just trying to butter them up. Blaine was already promising to get Jesse the latest Warblers CD and Rachel was looking at him with puppy eyes. Kurt knew that lying and backstabbing was Jesse's kind of thing but as much as he wanted to he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

He had to concede that Jesse had won the first round.

-x-

They left the café without being quite sure of where to go next.

Rachel, being Rachel, had decided that they would go and watch some movie that just came out. Being Rachel, she also hadn't asked for anyone's opinion assuming that the other three boys would go along with whatever she decided.

There were two problems with this. First of all, Kurt was not at all okay with letting Rachel have her way because it just encouraged her craziness. Second, and even more importantly, Kurt was not going to watch some sappy English love comedy.

"But you love sappy English love comedies," Rachel pointed out. "Did you forget about the Hugh Grant marathon?"

Kurt shut his eyes. He didn't, as much as he wanted to, and he really hoped it wouldn't be dragged to the light now. If he remembered well there had been a lot of pining and ice cream involved, while both he and Rachel decided that since they didn't live in Portobello they were doomed to stay single forever.

"That was just a phase," he said. "Besides, those movies don't even have decent songs over the ending credits."

"_Music and Lyrics_ had songs in it," Blaine pointed out. Rachel gave him a curious look and he hastened to add, "Kurt made me watch it. I'm not really a fan of the genre."

Rachel turned to Jesse for support. "What do you think?" she asked, batting her eyelids. Actually batting her eyelids. Kurt was too surprised that someone was actually trying to do that in real life to catch Jesse's answer.

"They're showing some older movies this weekend," Jesse said, pointing to the posters. "I think they're doing _Enchanted_ next."

"I love _Enchanted_!" Blaine exclaimed before anyone could say anything.

And, okay, Kurt liked _Enchanted_ too, and he knew that Blaine would be ridiculously happy about watching it on the big screen again because he was just like a kid sometimes and had some inexplicable weakness for, among other things, Katy Perry, Disney movies and Kurt, but that wasn't the point.

The point was that if he agreed to _Enchanted_ he'd agree to Jesse's suggestion and it would be another win for Jesse. Kurt wasn't too sure of what to do about the Jesse situation yet, but letting him win anything wasn't part of the plan.

Blaine looked at Kurt with what looked too much like puppy eyes.

"I like _Enchanted_ too," Kurt admitted. Yes, he'd definitely hate Blaine if he wasn't so head over heels for him.

Rachel gave them her best betrayed diva look but faced with a united front she had to give up. Jesse was not satisfied with this victory, though, since he smiled at Rachel and offered to watch the sappy love comedy with her on their next date.

Kurt didn't miss the fact that Jesse seemed to be completely certain that there would be a next date, and from Rachel's tone she had no doubts in that regard either.

-x-

Rachel ordered Jesse and Blaine to get the popcorns.

Kurt thought that she was just being her natural bossy self until she pulled him behind a potted plant and handed him a tissue.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here," Kurt said, watching the white folded-up square with equal parts curiosity and concern.

She waved the tissue in front of him and huffed. "In case your palms are sweaty," she said. "You need to hold Blaine's hand during the movie."

Concern for Rachel's mental health was currently winning in Kurt's brain. "Excuse me?" he said, wondering how much weird one could cram in a single day.

"Hold his hand," Rachel repeated. "It's what couples do while watching movies."

"Why do you want me and Blaine to hold hands?" Kurt asked.

"Because then it'll be less awkward when me and Jesse hold hands too," Rachel replied.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Can't you just take his hand?" he said. "It's dark, nobody will notice."

Rachel glared at him. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd gone along with my plan," she said. "If we'd been in a theater full of couples holding hands instead of five-year-olds, it wouldn't be so..."

He wouldn't have expected her to look for strength in numbers and was about to make a witty remark to that effect when Rachel pressed the tissue in his hand and stormed off.

-x-

Kurt didn't hold Blaine's hand during the movie, as much as he'd have liked to.

Despite what other people might have thought they weren't one those obnoxious couples who clung to each other all the time. There was a reasonable amount of cuddling in front of the television and getting into each other's personal space all the time while singing and occasionally they walked around arm in arm just because they could, but Kurt wouldn't have described them as clingy.

Especially not in public. Especially not with Rachel Berry staring pointedly at Kurt's arm and nudging him in the ribs with her elbow, distracting him from the Central Park scene.

He'd already regretted his hasty decision to split up any blossoming friendship between Blaine and Jesse by sitting between the two of them. They were eating popcorns and watching the movie in silence, oblivious to the battle that was going on next to them.

"Is everything okay?" Blaine asked Kurt when the lights went back on during the intermission.

"Yes," Kurt replied, not making any attempts to hide his frown. He got up and dragged Blaine with him. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay," Blaine said.

"In private," Kurt added, retreating to the men's restroom. This date was getting repetitive.

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him. "What's so important that you couldn't tell me in front of your friends?" he asked, leaning against the sink. "Are you that desperate to get me alone?"

Kurt grinned despite himself and had to take a moment to remind himself that, no matter how gorgeous Blaine looked out of his uniform (or in his uniform, for that matter), he wasn't going to make out with him in a restroom of questionable cleanliness. He had standards. Which was too bad really, because Blaine looked really great in his burgundy sweater.

"Jesse isn't really a friend," he said instead. "I never told you because I didn't want to bring up old drama but I think you should know what he did to Rachel and everyone else in glee club."

"Yes, I know about last year," Blaine said. "Jesse told me earlier at the café."

Kurt snorted. "I doubt he told you the whole story," he said.

"What he told me didn't really paint him in a favorable light," Blaine replied.

"Did he tell you about the eggs?" Kurt asked, then shook his head vehemently as Blaine nodded. "I can't believe it," he said. "I thought you'd be all over his case. Aren't you for playing fair and for honesty?"

"I'm also for giving people a second chance," Blaine said. "Jesse was sincere when he said he wanted to fix things with Rachel. He really likes her."

"Do you really think so?" Kurt replied. Blaine was probably not the best character judge ever but he couldn't help softening just a little.

Blaine nodded. "So are you going to give Jesse the if-you-hurt-my-friend-I-will-hurt-you speech now?" he asked.

"No," Kurt said. "I think that would be over the top, even for me." He frowned as Blaine's grin widened and then turned into a burst of laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Rachel did it to me," he said, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Two months ago, when you introduced us. It was the first time I've been threatened by someone shorter than me."

"I can't believe this," Kurt replied, horrified. "She is going to pay for this."

"I thought it was endearing that your friends cared so much for you," Blaine replied. "Apart from the fact that I was afraid she might kill me, of course."

Kurt would have liked to brood some more over Rachel Berry's invasion of her privacy and attempt to meddle with his love life, but then Blaine pulled him in for a quick kiss and Kurt decided he wasn't completely against making out in the restroom.

"I have a request," Kurt said as they were walking back to their seats. Blaine turned to look at him and he blushed furiously. "Could we hold hands during the rest of the movie? Please don't laugh," he added quickly. "It's a serious request."

Blaine looked like he was about to start laughing at any moment but he graciously refrained from it. "All right," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "It's a harsh request, it pains me to have your graceful, slender fingers entwined with my own for the next fifty minutes..."

Kurt swatted him when he attempted to go down on his knee in the middle of the theater. "Please," he said. "Rachel is driving me mad. She asked, or rather demanded, that we hold hands so that she won't be embarrassed to hold hands with Jesse too."

"Really?" Blaine replied with a smirk. "Is that your best excuse?"

"It's not an excuse," Kurt began, only to trail off when he noticed where Blaine was pointing.

Rachel and Jesse were making out in their seats, happily ignoring the rest of the world. So much for hoping they had broken up.

"For the record," Blaine said. "I don't mind holding your hand anyway."

-x-

On their way back to Blaine's car, Blaine and Rachel started singing Giselle and Edward's duet from the movie.

Kurt and Jesse followed a couple of steps behind to maintain plausible deniability in case anyone asked them if they knew those two weirdos. At least Kurt did and Jesse fell in step with him.

"So," Jesse said. "Do I have your blessing?"

Kurt sighed. "Would it matter if you didn't?" he asked.

"Yes, actually," Jesse replied. "She does care about what her friends say."

That sounded very much unlikely. Kurt glanced at Rachel, twirling around next to Blaine and looking as if she was on top of the world. Then again with Rachel it was either that or endless despair. She wasn't good with middle ground.

He shrugged. "I don't mind if you date her," he said. "But if I find out you are just using her again, I'll let you know that I'm friends with the football team at McKinley _and_ Dalton now." He figured it was okay since Rachel had been making threats first.

Jesse looked suitably guilty at those words. "I promise you my intentions are entirely honorable," he said. "I'm past club rivalry and scheming."

"You better," Kurt said. He paused for a beat. "And there's one other thing: let's not go on any more double dates."

"Are you afraid I'll steal your boyfriend?" Jesse grinned, leaving Kurt to splutter in indignation at the idea that Blaine would ever go out with someone like Jesse. "Don't worry, now that I'm back with Rachel I'm going to do my best not to lose her again."

And, okay, maybe Jesse was good at doing sincere-and-repentant. Anyway he already had everyone else convinced of his act and Kurt had already given him his version of the you-hurt-her speech so there was nothing more to do but hope he was being sincere and join Blaine and Rachel in the parking lot.

"Today was fun!" Rachel said. "We should do it again some other time."

"Great idea," Blaine said, and Jesse was already checking a flyer with the time and dates of the other Disney movie showings.

Kurt groaned.


	5. Best laid plans

Ever since transferring to McKinley, there were a number of things that worried Blaine on a daily basis. It was probably easier to make a list of what _didn't_ make him worry. Kurt didn't worry him in the least. They had been together since a few months ago, they were happy and Blaine thought he might very possibly be in love with him. Not just puppy love, honest-to-goodness 'I will love you until the end of time' love. He hadn't told Kurt yet, mostly because he still couldn't believe that someone as perfect as Kurt would ever want to be with someone like him, but the nervous feeling he got in his stomach whenever he thought of his boyfriend was definitely nervous-good, not nervous-bad. Kurt was the only thing keeping him sane in the chaos that had become his life ever since he'd transferred a couple of weeks ago.

Bullies, for example, were his major source of concern. By now he'd figured out that there was no risk of getting beaten up or even pushed around in the corridors, especially with Coach Sylvester patrolling the corridors. (Of course, there was also the possibility that Coach Sylvester herself would push a hapless student against the lockers, but that wasn't bullying, it was a lesson on the cruelty of life. Or so she claimed. Blaine always ran away whenever she saw her around.)

However, even without physical abuse, the threat of a slushie to the face was ever-present. Blaine didn't even like _drinking_ the stuff, and he lived in fear of icy, raspberry-flavored hell. Plus, quite aside from everything else, he still had a Pavlovian reaction to letterman jackets. He had almost passed out the first time Puck had came up to him from behind and greeted him with a slap on the back.

There was also the fact that, having transferred in the middle of the semester, he didn't know any of his teachers or his classmates. Everyone else already knew each other, making Blaine feel even more of an outsider, and whenever Blaine introduced himself as a member of the glee club he usually got looks of pity. Then people made excuses to get away from him as quickly as they could. He had always thought that Kurt was being modest when he said that at McKinley the glee club wasn't popular, but it was even worse than that. They were social nullities. Nobody cared about what New Directions did, and they cared even less about what _Blaine_ did. Blaine was still trying to cope with that.

Then there was glee club itself. That was always Blaine's happy moment of the day, because he got to sing and to be with Kurt and, even better, to be with Kurt without getting any judgmental looks from anyone in the room. (Apart from Santana. "She's very upset that the hot new guy is already taken," Brittany had explained to Kurt in her usual dreamy tone, not caring that the 'hot new guy' was standing right in front of her. "Be careful, she might flash you her boobs to turn you straight." Blaine had laughed at that. Then he'd got to know Santana, and being flashed in the corridors had become another of his worries.)

It was also hard to adjust to New Directions' completely unique (for lack of a better term) approach to organization. Mr Schue gave assignments for the week, and then changed them for no reason at all. He had them perform incredibly elaborate dance numbers, with costumes and lights and choreographies that took days to put together, then after they'd perfected their moves he'd just move on to another song. He didn't even have a plan for Nationals, and the general consensus among glee club members was that they'd be very lucky to see a set list one week before their competition.

It didn't seem to worry them in the least, which in turn made Blaine worry even more. He was a planning guy, he made plans, otherwise he'd just fall apart. He wasn't used to performing a number that he hadn't worked on for days, if not weeks. New Directions' quick rhythms were wearing him down. And, speaking of rhythms, their dance routines were crazy. Blaine was glad he could always call on Kurt for help with those.

There was also a slew of other seemingly-unlikely but very real threats to Blaine's safety and well-being. Getting food poisoning in the cafeteria, being paired with Lauren Zizes during a dance number, Coach Sylvester, witnessing one of Mr Schue's impromptu rap numbers and Coach Sylvester were only the most frequent of them. Blaine was gaining a new respect for Darwin since it seemed that everyone at McKinley was trying to adopt 'survival of the fitting' as their unofficial motto.

Blaine had always been a straight-A student, his chief concerns being studying and rehearsing and , during particularly stressful moments, color-coding his notes. However there was just too much going on in his life after transferring. His impending European History test didn't even make the top ten of his current worries.

-x-

They got their tests back on Tuesday at the end of second period. Kurt grinned at his A- (not bad at all, considering he and Blaine had spent most of their study sessions making out rather than actually studying) and grabbed his bag as soon as the bell rang.

Mrs Harris asked Blaine to stay behind and Blaine mouthed "Go ahead" to Kurt as he passed his desk, but on Tuesdays they usually walked to French together so Kurt waited for him in the corridor. He was still giddy over the fact that he had a boyfriend, and that said boyfriend was a student at McKinley too, and he wasn't going to give up on his walking-to-French-together privileges so easily.

That was probably the reason why, when Blaine came out of the classroom a couple of minutes later, Kurt didn't notice the slump in his shoulders. He did, however, notice that something was wrong when Blaine flung one arm around his shoulders and buried his head against his chest.

"My life is over," Blaine declared, his test still clenched in his other hand.

Kurt raised a perfectly-shaped eyebrow at him and decided that, considering his current state of distress, Blaine could get a free pass on messing up his clothes. "It's not that bad," he said, patting Blaine's back. "I got A- too. I mixed up some dates, I always confuse the War of the Roses with the 30 Years' War..."

Blaine lifted his head for just enough time to pout. "I'm serious," he said. "Dead serious. You might as well kill me here and now and put me out of my misery." His penchant for dramatics had only increased after leaving Dalton's severe atmosphere and dress code, but Kurt felt that this time Blaine was going too far.

"How bad is it?" he asked, trying to get Blaine to detach himself from his jacket. He loved cuddling just as much as anyone, but not in the middle of a corridor with everyone watching.

"Very bad," Blaine replied, his voice muffled by Kurt's shoulder. He thrust up his test paper.

Kurt took it and unfolded it carefully. "I wouldn't worry," he said, smoothing the creases. "Even if you got a B, it's only your first test and... Oh. My. Gaga."

He stared at the mess of red marks on the test, then at the name on top of the page. It definitely read 'Blaine Anderson' in Blaine's careful copperplate script. He stared at the red marks again.

"I got a C!" Blaine whined.

"Okay, calm down," Kurt said. His eyes widened more and more as he scanned the page. It was a complete and utter mess. Wars ending years before their beginning, battles taking place in the wrong nation and between the wrong armies, peasants causing the king to revolt. Charlemagne showed up in the middle of the sixteenth century. "What happened here?"

Blaine shook his head and finally let go of Kurt's jacket. "I don't know," he sighed. "I've never, ever got anything less than A-. And that was in grade school. What am I going to do?"

He gave Kurt his best sad puppy look, the one Kurt had been seeing a lot lately. Either Blaine didn't feel like keeping up his confident façade any more (he had transferred to be free to be himself, after all) or he had found out just how effective it was to get what it wanted, be it sympathy or hugs or homework help.

"What did Mrs Harris say?" Kurt asked. He clenched the strap of his bag, willing himself not to jump on Blaine and kiss his frown away. Not now, at least.

Blaine shook his head. "She said that, since this was my first test in a new school, I can take it again tomorrow," he replied.

"That's great!" Kurt exclaimed. "Come on, we'll be late for French."

He tried to take Blaine's hand and pull him along, but Blaine seemed rooted on the spot. Even worse, he didn't seem relieved at all at the prospect of retaking the test. "It's tomorrow," he moaned. "I'd have to study about three centuries of European history in one day! I thought I'd studied it but apparently I did not, and now it's too late, and I'm going to take another C or maybe even a D, and Mrs Harris will realize that all of my grades until now have been a _lie_ because clearly I'm a moron, and..."

"Okay, okay, whoa, calm down," Kurt said, cutting off Blaine's rant. He took both of his boyfriend's hands into his. "You're not a moron, you're just nervous. We could have a study group this afternoon," he offered. He'd planned to work on his glee assignment, but Blaine came first. Kurt blamed the puppy look.

"Really?" Blaine asked. His face lit up. "Yeah, that would help."

-x-

Privately, Blaine wasn't sure that a study group would be a good idea. He'd never say it out loud to Kurt (he didn't even like admitting it to himself) but he was in this situation because of too many study dates with Kurt. Having Kurt in front of him while he was trying to read about Lancasters and Yorks was a terrible distraction. It had been bad enough before they started dating, when Blaine had to limit himself to stealing glances in between turning pages and sometimes he asked to confront notes so that he could brush their fingers together as Kurt gave him his notebook.

Now that they were together, it was a thousand times worse. Blaine still couldn't refrain from staring at Kurt, only now Kurt smiled at him whenever he caught his eyes. And then, for all of his talk about Blaine being the flirty one, he kept asking questions and checking dates with Blaine and overall making sure that Blaine concentrated on nothing but the sound of his voice. It was a really nice voice, even when it was just inquiring after the spelling of a French name.

Not that Blaine could blame Kurt for his own inability to concentrate. Almost every time, it was Blaine who cut their study time short by leaning over the table and attempting to kiss his boyfriend senseless. He got over his sense of guilt by thinking that he still had plenty of time before the day of the test. One week, four days, two days, one day...

On the night before the test, Blaine had stayed up all night trying to finish the last 50 pages he'd never got around to reading. He'd crammed dates and names, drank his body weight in coffee and got to school after a grand total of zero hours of sleep. He didn't remember anything about the test, save that at some point there was a question about cows, but he might have fallen asleep and dreamed about that part.

Blaine had known that McKinley had lower standards than a private school, he'd seen how much Kurt had worked to catch up with everyone else when he was at Dalton, so he'd naively thought it would be easy to get good grades even without studying during all of his free time. Now he felt awfully guilty about the whole situation. Getting in a good college would be even more difficult if he graduated from McKinley instead of Dalton, but Blaine had plans. He thought he'd be fine if he kept his straight-A record intact and had some extra-curricular activities to add to his already impressive list. If he didn't more than make up for his C, he was facing a lifetime of flipping burgers, or possibly singing in theme parks if he was lucky.

Overall, Blaine wasn't completely sold on the merits of a study group until Kurt invited Finn to come along. He was failing European History too, and he needed to scrape a pass to stay on the football team, and having him around meant that Kurt and Blaine would have to refrain from any public displays of affection. (They didn't tell Finn that last part.) Finn agreed to join them.

However, Kurt made the mistake to ask Finn at lunch in front of half of the glee club. "As a straight-A student," Rachel said, flashing everyone the smile that she no doubt practiced in the mirror, "I feel honor-bound to share my knowledge with you. I'd be happy to tutor you. There's no need to thank me," she added as Kurt started to voice an objection.

Then they had to invite her along to Blaine's house too. And it seemed like the perennial love triangle (or square or pentagon or whatever it had grown into since last week) involving Rachel and Finn and Puck was still in full swing, because Puck glowered at Finn and insisted to join them at Blaine's.

"Blaine's?" asked Santana who was passing by just then, flashing him a calculating look. She wasn't a straight-A student, and she wasn't failing European History. In fact she wasn't even taking European History. Despite this, she was adamant that she needed to see Blaine's house, pardon, join their study group.

In the end they agreed that she could come along to chaperon Brittany, who wasn't taking European History either but didn't seem to remember it. Anyway she was failing so many of her classes that it wouldn't hurt her to spend one afternoon on her textbooks. ("Usually I just watch the movie version," she'd said.)

At this point it was more like an outing of the glee club than a study session. Blaine half-expected Mr Schuester to tag along and start playing some soulful tune on his guitar to inspire them. He was glad he didn't, because in that case he would have had to strangle him with his own tie.

It was only later, when Kurt linked their arms together and dragged Blaine away to their last class of the day, that Blaine realized that this was New Directions' way of trying to help him out. Which, like most of what New Directions did, was chaotic, not very well planned and doomed to end up badly.

For some reason, he couldn't stop smiling at the thought.

-x-

**Author's note:** I'm thinking to end this story after the next chapter. I've got it planned out and everything, but after that I wouldn't know how to continue. I loved how Kurt and Blaine got together in Original Song and I think my story can't hold a candle to that. So yeah, I'll probably abandon this now-AU after tying up a couple of loose ends.


End file.
